RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3, Episode 8 Recap: What The Davenport?

Previously on All Stars: Bebe Zahara Benet refused to disclose who she’d intended to send home and bring back had she won the lip-sync. Trixie Mattel and Shangela slayed everything back and forth and became the two frontrunners for the season after BenDeLaCreme left. And Morgan McMichaels quacked a little too hard and was sent home.

The girls return to the werk room, make their peace with Morgan being gone, then sit down to discuss the week. Bebe Zahara Benet starts things off by asking Trixie Mattel whose lipstick she picked.

It do take nerve.

Trixie shades the shit out of Bebe by pretending to also want to hide her choice “out of respect.” It’s a gag, but everyone laughs it off.

The girls de-drag and Bebe fantasizes about having her face up on the All Star hall of fame.

Serve this face, honey, serve all of this face.

The next morning, the queens are greeted by RuPaul, who tells them about this final week’s maxi-challenge. They are going to write, record, and perform solos in an all-new extravaganza version of Ru’s song “Kitty Girl,” and will be coming up with choreography for it all too with “help” from Todrick Hall.

Hmmm.

And here’s one extra twist: They’re bringing back the eliminated queens!

Again!

Ex-fucking-scuse me?

Ru leaves the girls to mull all of this over, and they begin to theorize what role the eliminated girls will be playing this time around. Trixie and Shangela think it might have something to do with them serving as a jury that will help decide how deserving they are. Bebe Zahara Benet thinks they’re going to be backup dancers.

Uh, what?

The girls head into dance rehearsals with Toddy Hall, and they each get assigned one main dance partner from a selection of backup dancers. No, not the eliminated queens. Actual dancers.

Trixie is given a backup dancer that she is totally crushing on, which is super fun.

“Hummina hummina hummina”

The girls start blocking choreography for the number, and Bebe looks lost as hell.

“Don’t panic. Don’t panic.”

Some of the girls (basically Bebe) are having trouble with the complexity of this dance number, and so Todrick gets back to his usual habit of extremely tough and shady love. He calls them “three hesitant people and one person that’s just lost.”

Well halleloo.

Todrick takes the queens backstage to reveal this challenge’s twist: They’re going to start behind the scenes, around the studio lot, and make their way onto the main stage throughout the number.

I’ve never seen someone this excited.

Kennedy Davenport and Bebe look a bit nervous, but Shangela and Trixie are ready and super thrilled about this. Like true winners should be.

It’s coronation day (!!) and the queens enter the werk room to start getting ready. But Trixie Mattel takes a moment to have a personal dance-off by the entrance first.

Pop that booty!

The ladies are getting into geish and they talk, for the umpteenth time, about track records. For Kennedy, it isn’t just about winning challenges, which she hasn’t done as much, but also what she’s done to solidify friendships with everyone. Which could come back to help her at the last minute.

FORESHADOWING

Let’s get to the good stuff!

Ru has had a few off weeks with her lewks, but this is a toot for me. It’s just right.

Time for the grand performance!

Kennedy Davenport looks gorge, has a great set of pipes, all of the dance moves, and one of her lines is “feel your puss down deep in your soul.” ‘Nuff said.

Shangela’s part is super high-energy, she kills the dancing, and references a bunch of classic moments in the herstory of her presence on the show. Also, can I point out how amazing it is that a drag queen is getting biological women as backup dancers? Werk that gay power.

Bebe Zahara Benet’s bit is mostly behind a sewing machine, which is ironic considering she can’t sew. She looks fierce as hell and her lyrics are fun, but… she’s not really lip-syncing them very well. Awkward.

Trixie’s trying something new with her look, her lyrics are fun, playful, and energetic. She’s doing great.

Camer-oops!

The girls get to the main stage for the final section of the dance, and Bebe fucks up the part of the choreography that Toddy Hall was sassing her about earlier. Ahem.

Still, besides a few slip-ups from Bebe, this was the best group number ever. Kudos to these girls for totally killing that one-take monster.

Next up: Final Four Eleganza Extravaganza! Oh, hey, the eliminated girls are here!

Hey gals!

Bebe Zahara Benet is giving us wild animal couture, and the makeup and tiger head are fierce, but the rest honestly looks a little amateur for a final four look, in my opinion. Sorry ’bout it.

Kennedy Davenport has pulled out a crazier version of her rainbow gown from the season 7 final four runway, a nice callback to her past. The hair’s a little on the wild side, but I think it’s pretty gorgeous overall.

Shangela is serving up First Lady of the United States (the good kind, not our current one) at the inaugural ball. It’s classic and modern at the same time, and she’s selling it so hard. I love it.

Now that everyone is here, RuPaul reveals that the eliminated queens will be interviewing each of the top four after the critiques and then vote to decide the top two out of the remaining competitors.

WHAT

The judges’ final critiques are… very merciful. They’re more about each of the queens’ legacy and overall performance. Bebe is told she’s not the best dancer, Kennedy’s runway look is a bit loud, and that’s about it. The eliminated queens aren’t being given much to work with, so they’re gonna have to ask the hard questions themselves.

With that said, let’s have a quick look at the Eliminated Queens Eleganza Extravaganza!

Bebe Zahara Benet is up first, and Thorgy Thor goes right for the jugular. She wants to know who Bebe would have sent home and brought back if she had won the lip-sync during the ruvenge episode. Bebe straight-up LIES and tells them all the other competitors that week agreed she shouldn’t reveal her choices, when the truth is that the queens were super pissed and disappointed that she refused.

What the what?

Bebe basically shoots herself in the foot (and the head, probably) and says she’s still not willing to say who she picked—and if she has to lose her place in her top two for that, so be it.

Over it.

Kennedy Davenport is up next, and her interview is much better. She talks about how she’s been out there and she’s seen all kinds of drag and she’s opened her mind to all of that, and would like a chance to share her new mindset and openness with the world. She’s sincere, eloquent, and really gets through to the girls.

Even Dela, who is completely done with all of this shit, is sold.

Shangela comes in to talk to the eliminated girls, and it’s all very awkward. Shangie, in her confessional, does the math real quick: Three out of six of these girls were sent home by her, and the other three don’t particularly love her either. She’s in trouble.

Oh boy.

Here’s the thing. All season long, Shangela has been very Game of Thrones-y with her alliances and her choices. She’s been playing the game masterfully, and two out of three of her co-competitors in the top four are huge allies of hers. But as for the eliminated girls? Not so much. And her fate is now in their hands. Dun dun dunnn.

Lastly, Trixie Mattel is being questioned. Aja asks who Trixie would see with her in the top two, and that’s Shangela. As for the other two… Trixie thinks that for someone who has had ten damn years to improve since her season, Bebe Zahara Benet’s drag is often underwhelming. And Kennedy’s looks tend to be a bit misguided, like her runway look tonight, which Trixie says is basically trash compared to season 7’s. Gag.

LIVIIIING

With the four interviews out of the way, the eliminated queens deliberate on the subject. BenDeLaCreme finally speaks up and says she feels that some of these queens don’t really need this title, because they’re already huge and successful and famous.

And as we are about to witness, Ms. Creme has once again managed to turn the whole competition on its head.

She runs this motherfucking show.

Here’s how this works: Each eliminated queen picks two lipsticks. The first lipstick that is picked gives the selected queen two points. The second lipstick gives one point. Let’s get into this lipstick extravaganza.

Dela—who still looks like she’s over it—was also won over by Kennedy. She picks her first, then Trixie. No Wite-Out this time.

Chi Chi DeVayne and Kennedy are best buddies, so her first choice is obvious. Her second is also Trixie.

Milk takes those same two queens but flips the order around. Trixie first.

Morgan McMichaels is serving mystery fish tonight. She was the only one here who knew with absolute certainty, when Bebe Zahara Benet said the girls agreed she shouldn’t reveal her lipstick picks, that she was lying her ass off. But somehow, despite that, her first pick is still Bebe. Her second is Kennedy.

Last but certainly not least, Thorgy Thor is the only one to actually make a sane decision based on track record and merit and not who needs the crown the most. She picks Trixie first, then Shangela. Note that as messy as she can be sometimes, Thorgy still has the perspective to vote for someone who eliminated her because she knows it’s the right choice regardless of her personal feelings. Werk, bitch.

So the top four get back to the main stage and Morgan McMichaels, who is the spokesperson for the eliminated girls, announces the first queen to be chosen for the top two: Kennedy. Immediately, Trixie Mattel looks super disappointed because she knows—or rather, thinks—Shangela ought to be the other one. But Shangela isn’t. It’s Trixie.

Basically how the rest of the world felt in that moment.And that is the story of how a million hearts broke for Shangela that day.

Shangie is obviously super disappointed, but she says in her confessional that she knows Mama Ru is proud of her, and she’s going to keep at it and work hard until she makes it one day. “Gotta keep going,” she concludes with a smile.

You’re doing amazing, sweetie.

Bebe is sad too, but… Well, let’s be honest, that was the right decision. I’m happy for her that she got the exposure she wanted from All Stars, but she definitely deserved to stop at top four.

As RuPaul is doing her final dramatic speech about the upcoming lip-sync for the crown, Trixie Mattel is quietly crying. And as shady as it is, it’s because she knows what’s coming. Going by track records, there’s no way RuPaul is going to pick Kennedy Davenport as the winner over her, so Trixie has basically already won and she knows it.

But still, let’s pretend this is a fair fight and get into the lip-sync for the crown!

The lip-sync song is “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus, a really emotional song, so Trixie Mattel takes everything she’s feeling and channels it into her performance, which leads to a beautiful, tearful moment.

Kennedy looks gorge and is doing a great job too, but she came in barefoot for the lip-sync so she could dance better, which we know RuPaul is not a fan of, so… whoops.

Kennedy is trying to play to her strengths, dancing and cartwheeling everywhere, but Trixie Mattel rips off her coat and tearfully pulls clumps of hair out of her wig, going balls to the wall with the emotion. It’s giving me Latrice Royale vs. Kenya Michaels flashbacks and in that moment, it’s clear Kennedy has lost.

So yes, the winner is… Trixie Mattel!

YAAYYYYY

I am so so proud of my queen. She made it!

Werk that scepter.

So ends the crazy, topsy-turvy, rigga morris-y RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3. Was Trixie’s win fair? Yes and no. I guess as an added criteria that not many queens paid attention to this season, interpersonal relationships and being well-liked were just as important as track record and talent. While Shangela did deserve the win—or at least a spot in the top two—Trixie Mattel met the perfect balance of everything that was needed here according to Ru and the jury. It’s not just Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent anymore. It’s likeability too.

But also, ROBBED.

Hope y’all enjoyed the season as much as I did despite all the ugly bits. I am very much looking forward to starting on Season 10, which kicks off next week! Tune in next weekend as we dive in with a whole new batch of queens, one-hour-and-a-half-long episodes every week, and Untucked too! Lawd, these recaps are just gonna get longer and longer.